Does an athlete win a race simply by looking at the finish line? No. He must run to reach that line, just as we must work to persevere unto salvation.
"Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they
do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: But I keep under my body, and bring
it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway." - 1 Corinthians 9:24-27
Paul taught the necessity of works and was himself unsure of his ultimate salvation, yet this did not contradict his teaching of grace. Grace and works are not opposed but are complimentary and synergistic. To deny this would make you anathema in the eyes of the Apostles.
Is my breathing an evidence that I am alive? Yes. Is it not also a necessity that I breath to be alive? Absolutely. As breath is both a sign and necessity of life so to are works signs and necessary for ultimate Salvation. There is no contradiction, no mutual exclusion, only synergy.
You have your mind locked in a rationalistic contradictory mindset. Let me give you another analogy.
Let us compare our salvation to our physical life. Just as salvation is given by God's grace so to our life is given by God and can only be taken away by Him, for the Scripture says "for in him we live, and move, and have our being (Acts 17:28)." We did not merit our birth and the breath of life poured into us, just as we do not merit our initial conversion and rebirth, as I am sure you agree. However, it absolutely cannot be denied that we live by our works. We must breath the breath into our lungs to keep the breath of life within us, else we suffocate. We must eat and drink to fuel our bodies and grow strong, else we starve and die. We must exercise our bodies so that we do not become unhealthy and die from the damage done to our bodies by our negligence. All these are works necessary for our survival and it cannot be denied that we ourselves do them, yet it also is true that our life is given and sustained by God. Our physical life is synergistic.
The exact same is true of our Salvation. Just as we must accept oxygen into our lungs we must accept the Spirit of God into ourselves and must do so continuously lest we become hard hearted and apostate, as the Scripture says "and in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: For this people's heart is waxed gross, and
their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with
their eyes, and hear with
their ears, and should understand with
their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them (Matthew 13:14-15)." Just as we must eat, drink and take medicine to sustain our bodies so to must we partake of the Holy Sacraments as our spiritual rejuvenation and medicine for as our Lord said "verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you (John 6:53)." Just as we must exercise our bodies lest we become unhealthy and die so to must we pray do good works, for as Saint James says "for as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also (James 2:26)." All these are necessary in the lifelong process of salvation, but that does not diminish God's grace in any way.
You are locked in a false dichotomy rooted in the subconscious of schismatics for 500+ years. Do not look at salvation like it is a legal document, look at it as healing and perfection, look at it as life. This is the truth of the Apostles, Fathers and the Church. This is the Gospel of Christ.
Now, please respond to the above analogy. Furthermore, explain how your own view of salvation can be analogized using life. If your argument cannot be transferred over to the analogy of life, as putting to much emphasis on either God or man in the process of our physical life is evidently and Scripturally wrong, then I think you must concede the point.
Again, you are operating under a false dichotomy. Storm clouds are a sign of rain and are also necessary for rain.
And to persevere unto the end they must live according to the will of God by doing good works. There is no contradiction.
Do we choose of our own free will to accept Christ as our Lord and Savior or not? God does not renew us if we do not ask for it.
Does my acknowledging the necessity of eating to stay alive negate my life? No, it appears I am still alive despite acknowledging that works are necessary to sustain me.
I do not understand how you can hold such a completely incoherent view. If you believe works are not necessary for maintaining ones salvation then how can you claim any action of mine, including my affirmation of the necessity of works, could impact my salvation in any way? By your own definition you are taking away from God's grace by implying one must intellectually believe a certain way, which is a work. If faith is tied up in ones intellectual knowledge and affirmations then it is a work, a faculty of the physical mind.
The Apostles were the first Bishops of the Church. The Holy Spirit fills and gives authority to the Church. The New Testament canon was decided by the Church. The doctrine of the Trinity was decided by the Church. It is only in the Church that Scripture can be properly understood, otherwise you are committing the grave sin of private interpretation.
Here is a link to a debate regarding Tradition vs Sola Scriptura. Watch it for your edification:
For a long time I too took Sola Scriptura as truth for granted, but after some research and thought It became readily apparent how ridiculous it is. Words do not interpret themselves! Sola Scriptura was not believed by Christ, His Apostles or anyone in the Church.
